Kyle Kirkwood was left frustrated in IndyCar Toronto, qualifying in sixth after feeling as though pole was possible.
Andretti seemed to be the strongest team throughout qualifying at Toronto with both Kirkwood and Herta breezing their way into the Fast 6. However, his Fast 6 running is where his hopes for pole fell apart.
He suffered a snap of oversteer on his final preparation lap which left him in a less than ideal position for a push lap. He tried to head to the pits, hoping to refuel for a final chance at pole, but he missed the cut-off time and was left to watch Herta storm to pole, largely unchallenged.
Kirkwood’s qualifying session ended with a time of 1:04.5, which five seconds off the pole lap of his teammate.
Open frustrations
Kirkwood was quick to talk about how he felt pole was on the table. He said to FOX: “We definitely just gave away a pole without a doubt. It’s happened to me where I just got a huge snap there. It’s been under steering and one time I go through there for when it matters for pole and it bottoms and I get a huge snap.”
He admitted the second he had the snap of oversteer he knew the lap was ruined, but it was too late. “I tried to come into the pit lane as I knew the lap was already shot. I was just like ‘can we get fuel in and try to go out for another?’. They’re like, ‘no’.
“In hindsight, that was the best idea to get [and] go for the pole but that just cost us probably an extra few positions just because I didn’t even do a lap.”
Championship hopes
The season had started with championship hopes on the line, as Kirkwood seemed to be the only driver capable of besting Álex Palou. He sat second in the championship throughout the early stage sin the season but after a difficult weekend in Iowa. He fell to fourth. 180 points off Palou in the lead.
The frustrations were high after qualifying, with the Andretti driver lamenting another difficult session. He said, “It just feels like I’m throwing [them] away. Throwing away poles left and right on street courses. That one didn’t feel very good if I’m being honest. So we’ll get back, we’ll look at it, figure out exactly what happened.”
Despite his own disappointment, he still found some positivity for his teammate who took pole.
“At least someone made up for it with Colton getting the pole there. Super happy for the team [and] happy for the 26 car. But [I’m] very, very disappointed with that performance there in Fast Six.”
The weekend is not over for Kirkwood, with a host of possibilities in the race but no doubt the Andretti driver is starting on the back foot.
